(a) There is hereby created the "national coal heritage area
authority" which is a public corporation and a government
instrumentality existing for the purposes of providing direction to
and assistance with state and federal historic preservation,
economic development, and tourism projects in the national coal
heritage area and aiding in the development and implementation of
integrated cultural, historical, and land resource management
policies and programs in order to retain, enhance, and interpret
the significant values of the lands, waters and structures in the
national coal heritage area.

(b) The authority board shall be comprised of twenty members.
The following six persons shall be nonvoting members and shall
serve by virtue of their offices and may be represented at meetings
of the board by designees: The secretary of the Department of
Education and the arts, the commissioner of the bureau of the
environment, the commissioner of the Division of Tourism, the
commissioner of the Division of Culture and History, the director
of the Division of Natural Resources and the executive director of
the West Virginia Development Office. The remaining fourteen
members shall be appointed for terms of four years by the Governor
with the advice and consent of the Senate. The county commission
of each of the county within the National Coal Heritage Area may
submit to the Governor a list of three candidates to be considered for Board appointment. Of the fourteen members appointed by the
Governor, one member must reside or work in Boone County; one
member must reside or work in Cabell County; one member must reside
or work in Fayette County; one member must reside or work in
Lincoln County; one member must reside or work in Logan County; one
member must reside or work in Kanawha county; one member must
reside or work in Marion county: Provided, That this member shall
be an ex-officio non-voting member; one member must reside or work
in McDowell County; one member must reside or work in Mercer
County; one member must reside or work in Mingo County; one member
must reside or work in Raleigh County; one member must reside or
work in Summers County; one member must reside or work in Wayne
County; one member must reside or work in Wyoming County; and the
appointees must be representative of the tourism industry, the coal
industry, the united mine workers of America, economic development
activity, historic preservation activity or higher education.

(c) The terms of office shall be four years and shall expire
on June 30. No appointed member may serve more than two consecutive
full terms. A member shall continue to serve until his or her
successor has been appointed and qualified.

(d) If an appointed member is unable to complete a term, the
Governor shall appoint a person to complete the unexpired term.
Each vacancy occurring on the board must be filled within sixty
days after the vacancy is created.

(e) Any appointed member of the board shall immediately and automatically forfeit his or her membership on the board if he or
she becomes a nonresident of the county, or ceases to be employed
in that county, from which he or she was appointed.

(f) Each member of the board shall serve without compensation,
but shall receive expense reimbursement for all reasonable and
necessary expenses actually incurred in the performance of the
duties of the office, in the same amount paid to members of the
Legislature for their interim duties as recommended by the citizens
legislative compensation commission and authorized by law:
Provided, That no member may be reimbursed for expenses paid by a
third party.

(g) The board shall appoint an executive director to act as
its chief executive officer, to serve at the will and pleasure of
the board. The board, acting through its executive director, may
employ any other personnel considered necessary and may appoint
staff for the authority and retain such temporary consultants or
technicians as may be required for any special study or survey
consistent with the provisions of this article. The executive
director shall carry out plans to implement the provisions of this
article and to exercise those powers. The executive director shall
prepare annually a budget to be submitted to the board for its
review and approval.

Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2016 Regular Session
The West Virginia Code Online is an unofficial copy of the annotated WV Code, provided as a convenience. It has NOT been edited for publication, and is not in any way official or authoritative.